


We Sought A Better Place

by Kolivans (arka_r)



Series: Wanderers [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fantastic Racism, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Keith (Voltron) was Raised by the Blade of Marmora, POV Keith (Voltron), They/Them Pronouns Kolivan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23875195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arka_r/pseuds/Kolivans
Summary: Keith adjusts to life on the Blade of Marmora settlement. It’s not an easy thing.
Relationships: Keith & Kolivan (Voltron), Keith & Regris (Voltron)
Series: Wanderers [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1110060
Comments: 12
Kudos: 129





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Carl Sagan 'We Are Wanderers'
> 
> "When the drought was prolonged, or when an unsettling chill lingered in the summer air, our group moved on. We sought a better place. We could always begin again."

When Keith was fifteen years old, he learned about a lot of things. Like the fact that there was life beyond Earth, or that there was an alien species called the Galra currently occupying most of the Known Universe — that his mother was one of them, making him Half-Galra.

Keith Hawkins learned about all this seven years ago, when a Galra named Kolivan came to pick him up from Earth. Kolivan was the leader of the Blade of Marmora, a group of rebel Galra and Part-Galra who worked against the tyranny of an evil emperor named Zarkon — who claimed to be the Ruler of the Known Universe. However, when Kolivan picked Keith up from Earth, they told him that they had given up the leadership position so that they could raise Keith better.

Since then, Keith and Kolivan had stayed at Loszet-9, a Blade of Marmora settlement hidden in a gas giant in Loszet System. The perpetual electrical storm that raged outside the settlement hid it from all scanners, making it a safe hideout for Blade of Marmora members to raise their children and train young recruits.

There were roughly seven hundred beings living in the settlement coming from various planets and starbases. Though most of them were Galra, whether they were full-blooded Galra or Part-Galra, some of them were actually Non-Galra who were helping with the Blade of Marmora’s cause. They were initiated into the Blade of Marmora ranks to help with operational stuff like managing the settlement or improving the Blade tech.

Since it was a military base to begin with, a strict schedule was placed to keep the residents busy. First thing in the morning, the alarm would sound off to wake up everyone.

Keith immediately rose from his bed at the sound of the alarm. Still bleary-eyed, he nearly stumbled into his roommates before eventually managing to navigate his way into the communal bathroom.

His room was occupied by five other younglings: a Draconian hatchling named Chahru, a Veloxian-Galra hybrid named Rani, a full-blooded Galra teen named Dartok, an Altean-Galra hybrid named Nuala, and an Ovorti-Galra hybrid named Regris. Together, the six of them piled into the communal bathroom so that they could begin their morning routine.

After taking a shower, brushing his teeth, and changing into a dark blue jumpsuit, Keith was finally done and ready to begin his day. He was lucky — his roommates had a more complicated morning routine than he was, so he waited for them to finish by the locker area.

Regris was the next to be done, his tail swinging playfully behind him as he approached Keith.

“I’m so jealous”, Regris said with a grin on his face. “You’re going to learn how to pilot today instead of being stuck in the classroom.”

“I’m so excited, you don’t even know”, Keith returned the grin with his own. “But Kolivan is going to fill me in about today’s lesson afterward, so it’s not really a huge win.”

“Still, learning how to pilot? That’s so amazing! You’re like, one step away from becoming a Blade trainee!” Regris said excitedly. “Can you teach me how to do it? We can steal one of the fighters and sneak out.”

“I doubt Kolivan will be happy if I do that…” Keith returned, and Regris drooped in disappointment.

“Kolivan this, Kolivan that. Why do you always listen to that old bag of fleas, Roundy?” Dartok said as he emerged from the shower stall. Keith would be more intimidated if Dartok’s fur didn’t look so fluffy — he looked a lot more like an overgrown cat after a grooming session, honestly. Even the insult was nothing that Keith never heard before.

“Well, Kolivan is my guardian and mentor, so yeah, I would always listen to them”, Keith returned, glaring at Dartok. He did insult Kolivan, after all.

After living for quite some time on the settlement, it became apparent that no one knew that Kolivan used to be the Blade of Marmora leader, and apparently, Kolivan preferred it to stay that way. Less awkward for everyone involved, they said. Keith sometimes wished he could tell Dartok the truth so that the purple-nosed brat gave Kolivan at least a shred of respect that they deserved.

“Ignore him. He’s just jealous because he failed the preliminary test to be a pilot”, Regris said, before pulling Keith out of the bathroom. Dimly, Keith could hear Dartok growl as they left.

“But seriously though. It’s awesome that you got to learn how to pilot! Didn’t Chief Leroka said you’re one of the youngest younglings ever accepted into the piloting program?” Regris still continued as they headed toward the hangar where Kolivan would be waiting.

“Kolivan said my mom started at the younger age than I did”, Keith told Regris.

“Ah yes, Chief Krolia”, Regris said with a wistful sigh. “She’s one hell of a Blade agent. It’s really hard to believe that you’re her son. I mean— not in a bad way, you see.”

“I know. Thanks, Regs”, Keith returned, blushing slightly.

Everyone in the settlement knew that Keith was Chief Krolia’s son, and he had heard a lot of impressive things about her — things that Kolivan had never told Keith in person. When Keith confronted Kolivan about it, the older Galra had simply told Keith that they didn’t want to burden him further by comparing him to his mother. Kolivan eventually agreed to tell more about her through an unbiased lens. 

Keith was always eager to hear about his mom.

When they reached the hangar, Keith and Regris marveled at the ships parked there. There were evacuation ships, which were large enough to carry everyone who lived in the settlement in case they were attacked. There were also smaller Marmoran fighters to help defend the evacuation ships.

Kolivan was waiting by one of those fighters. They also wore a jumpsuit and their hair was tied into a bun. Their arms were crossed over their chest, but when they saw Keith approaching, they smiled at him.

“Hello, Keith”, Kolivan greeted him before turning to Regris. “Regris, shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

“Just want to say good luck to Keith, Sir!” Regris replied with a grin. He then turned to face Keith. “Alright, buddy. I should go now. Go have fun!”

“I will”, Keith returned, grinning at Regris, and he followed Kolivan to climb into the fighter. The last thing he saw before the door closed was Regris waving at him, both with his hand and his tail.

Kolivan sat on the pilot seat and took the ship out of the settlement and into the raging electrical storm outside. The ship shook slightly, but Kolivan steered it steadily out of the planet’s atmosphere. Within minutes, they were already out in the open space and entered the hyperjump.

“Where are we going?” Keith asked as he slid down from his seat and into the cockpit.

“Somewhere not too far”, Kolivan answered. “There is an uninhabited system close to a nebula nearby. It should be a safe enough place for you to start your first flying lesson.”

Keith gulped in nervousness. “A-are you sure I can do this with a real ship? Shouldn’t we start with simulation first?”

Kolivan let out a bark of laugh. 

“A simulation? Pffft, no, Keith. A simulation is for a child. I’m teaching you how to pilot like a Galra”, they said.

Somehow, that didn’t sound very reassuring. However, Keith tamped down his nervousness and decided to trust Kolivan.

For now.

—

As soon as they reached their destination, Kolivan made Keith sit on the pilot chair and taught him about the ship’s controls. While he listened to Kolivan’s explanation, Keith stared at the rows of buttons and felt rather overwhelmed, but Kolivan’s hand on his shoulder kept him grounded.

“It should be easy enough. The control sticks will give you control of the direction of the ship. Pushing both sticks forward will activate the back thrusters, while moving only one of them will make the ship turn left or right. To stop or slow the ship down, pull the control sticks to engage the dampeners”, Kolivan explained. “Oh, and don’t forget, keep an eye on the inertia stabilizer.”

“Push forward to go, pull backward to stop, and keep an eye on the stabilizer. Got it”, Keith summarized.

“Try it now at a quarter impulse”, Kolivan told Keith, and he did as he was told.

Slowly, Keith pushed the control sticks, and let out a small delighted laugh as the ship moved forward. It was slow, but it gained speed the more he pushed. When a chunk of asteroid came into view, he moved the left stick forward, and the ship turned right.

Before he knew it, he was weaving the ship through the asteroid field. The ship was still moving rather slowly so it was easy to dodge the asteroids at this speed. Still, it was rather nerve wracking, and Keith could feel sweat beginning to form on his forehead. 

Eventually, he managed to take the ship out of the asteroid field. There was no obstacle here save for a few planets in the distance. Binary stars lay at its center, like a pair of glimmering orbs.

“Try half an impulse”, Kolivan said.

“Are you sure?” Keith asked, hesitating.

“I am sure”, Kolivan answered, their voice firm. “You have good reflex, and I believe that you can handle it.”

“Half an impulse, got it”, Keith returned, blushing slightly, before he pressed one of the impulse drive buttons in front of him. The ship moved twice as fast, and Keith could feel his heart jump into his throat.

“Steady”, Kolivan gently warned. “You can do this, Keith.”

“R-right”, Keith stuttered, but Kolivan was right. It wasn’t really hard to control the ship — it was like he was made to do this. His hesitation soon turned into elation, and, at Kolivan’s order, he turned the ship around to enter the asteroid field once again.

He continued to pilot the ship for the next two hours, trying various maneuvers when Kolivan thought he was ready. Occasionally, Kolivan would lean forward to press at various buttons on the control board, but otherwise they were content to let Keith mess around with the control sticks.

Before he knew it, he was flying at full impulse, and it felt _amazing_ . It was like he and the ship were one, and if he was being honest, he never felt like this before — not even when he was at his class, studying about space stuff. Oh, he _loved_ studying about space stuff now that he knew that the Universe was full of life, ready to be explored, but the feeling was nothing like what he felt when he made the ship weave through the asteroid field at full impulse.

“It’s amazing! I mean, it’s just so surprisingly easy, and did you see me dodging that asteroid at the last tick possible? I’ve never felt so scared and so pumped up at the same time before!” Keith rambled when the two of them took a break from the lesson.

The two of them were sitting on the floor and Kolivan apparently had brought some food with them. Keith knew that the food were synthesized, but he couldn’t help but associating them with Kolivan. He particularly loved the salty broth that Kolivan usually made as comfort food.

“You really are your mother’s son”, Kolivan said with a small chuckle.

At the mention of his mother, Keith paused and turned at Kolivan, a small smile on his lips. “Yeah?”

“She really loved to pull that kind of stunt you did. I believe she did it to mess with me, much to my dismay”, Kolivan continued.

“You taught her how to pilot too?” Keith’s eyes widened.

“I trained her everything I could”, Kolivan answered.

“And now you’re training me”, Keith said with a smile. “You really are old, huh.”

“Excuse you”, Kolivan returned, ruffling Keith’s hair. Keith shrieked and laughed as he tried to bat Kolivan’s hand away to no avail.

“Can I try flying inside the nebula next?” Keith asked, excited.

“I can’t see why not”, Kolivan answered. “Finish your food first.”

Keith did as he was told and took back the pilot’s chair. Then, on Kolivan’s cue, he turned the ship around to enter the nebula.

As soon as the ship was inside the nebula, the sensors fritzed one by one and the ship shook mightily. Red alert blared inside the ship, and Keith could feel panic bubbling up inside his chest.

“What did I do?!” he cried out to Kolivan, but Kolivan’s expression remained stoically calm.

“It’s the interference from the nebula. You need to use the inertia stabilizer to compensate with it”, Kolivan explained.

_Oh well_ , Keith thought. It would be helpful if Kolivan told him that before they entered the nebula. As calmly as he could while still panicking, Keith pressed on one of the inertia stabilizer buttons and let the computer ran some calculations. However, the shaking only got worse. Keith didn’t know what to do and he could only stare dumbly at the controls before him.

“Compensate it, Keith”, Kolivan told Keith, but Keith didn’t know what to do. He was at a complete loss. Before he knew it, another alarm blared.

“ _Proximity alert_ ”, the computer’s dull voice rang, and Keith caught just in time as a chunk of asteroid loomed on the viewer. He froze on the spot, and felt fear surging through him like a lightning bolt.

They were going to crash, Keith dimly thought and shut his eyes in anticipation.

“— Keith, Keith!” Kolivan called out to him, and Keith felt like he was drowning, like falling. 

When he blinked, he realized that the ship was safe and the shaking had stopped. They were still inside the nebula and the ship had stopped somehow. He was still gripping the control sticks tightly, but Kolivan’s hand was on top of his hand, and they were staring at him with concerned expression on their face.

“Wh—” Keith paused, taking a deep breath. “What happened?”

“You panicked”, Kolivan answered. “I’m sorry, Keith. It was my fault. I thought you were ready for the next level of your lesson, but I am mistaken.”

“I… I panicked?” Keith parroted back at Kolivan.

“You did. It’s alright, Keith. It happens to the best of us”, Kolivan reassured him, but Keith still felt awful. Why was he feeling awful?

There was something heavy lodged in his throat, preventing him to speak. He stared at the viewer again and watched the lights from the nebula danced and pulsed.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do it”, Keith eventually managed to croak out.

“It’s alright”, Kolivan repeated. “You did rather well, considering that this is your very first time piloting a ship.”

There was something odd in Kolivan’s voice that Keith couldn’t quite put his fingers on it. Was it disappointment? Did he disappoint Kolivan?

“Now, why don’t you move aside so that I can take the ship back to Loszet?” Kolivan asked, and only then Keith realized that he was still gripping the control sticks tightly.

“O— oh, yeah. Okay”, Keith stuttered and stood up from the pilot’s chair. 

Kolivan sat down and Keith watched in partial interest as their fingers danced so easily on the controls. They took the ship out of the nebula with barely a shake. Once the ship was out of the nebula, Kolivan took it into the hyperjump.

The ride back to the settlement was quiet and tense. Keith tried not to think too hard on it.

—

After covering for Keith’s lesson for the day, Kolivan released Keith just before dinnertime. He made a small detour to his room to get his meal card, before heading toward the mess hall. In there, he found Regris, who was about to queue for food.

“Oh, hey!” Regris greeted him when Keith approached him. “How’s the pilot lesson?”

“Ugh, don’t ask”, Keith grumbled as he picked up a tray. He put his meal card on the tray and followed Regris to stand in queue.

“That bad, huh”, Regris winced and gave Keith a sympathetic smile.

“I had it on the first half, but I knew it was too easy to be true”, Keith replied glumly. “I blew it, Regs. I panicked and I blew it.”

“Aww, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad”, Regris said.

“What’s this? The high and mighty Keith Hawkins finally found that he’s not as good as mommy dearest?” Dartok approached him with a sneer on his face. Keith groaned audibly. He didn’t have the energy to deal with Dartok’s taunts right now.

“Get lost, Dartok.”

“I mean, what do you expect? There’s no way a pre-warp hybrid like you can do as good as the rest of us”, Dartok continued, and Rani and Nuala tittered behind him, while Chahru eyed Keith somewhat curiously.

Keith tried his best to tune out Dartok’s insults, but he found that it was somewhat hard. He knew realistically that there were jerks and bullies even in this corner of space, far away from Earth, but he’d never imagined that he would share a room with one — and he thought Johnny from his school back on Earth was _bad_.

“If my dad’s here, he would want me to be a pilot too, and he’d teach me way better than that bag of fleas you call guardian would ever do”, Dartok still continued.

“Well, yeah. Too bad he’s dead”, Keith returned. He knew it was a low blow, even before Dartok, Nuala, Rani, Chahru, and Regris gasped at his words.

“You take that back!” Dartok shouted, immediately attracting attention from the adults around them.

“Or what? You’ll run to daddy dearest? Oh wait, you can’t”, Keith laughed sarcastically.

Dartok let out a growl, and that was the only warning Keith got before he pounced at him, fist swinging. Keith managed to dodge around the punch, but he was not prepared for the second punch. It hit him right in his gut, and Keith toppled sideways from the impact. The tray he was holding clattered to the floor and Keith spat bile onto the floor.

Dartok’s punch _hurt_ , but _like hell_ if Keith was going to let that deter him.

Keith managed to get up on his feet. Dartok was bigger than him, but Keith was so done being pushed around. With a yell, he swung his own fist and pounced at Dartok. He managed to punch him in his big ugly face, and Dartok staggered backward. Dartok’s eyes widened in surprise, as if he wasn’t expecting Keith to fight back, but he quickly got back to his feet and readied himself to attack Keith once again.

“ENOUGH!” a voice boomed, and Keith recognized it as Kolivan’s before he felt someone yanking the collar of his jumpsuit.

It was Kolivan, because of course it was — meanwhile, Sister Dhina easily picked Dartok up from the ground. She was a huge and muscular Galra who managed the mess hall, with menacing horn-like crest and biceps bigger than Keith’s head. Needless to say, she was a scary sight to see.

Keith was still glaring at Dartok, who did the same. However, neither of them could do anything, being held back by adults at least twice their size.

And so the fight stopped just like that.


	2. Chapter 2

“What were you thinking, the two of you?!” Kolivan growled, though Keith could tell that it was a rhetorical question. 

The two of them — Keith and Dartok— were taken to Kolivan’s room, where Kolivan immediately growled at them as soon as the door was shut behind them. At Kolivan’s apparent anger, Keith could only bow his head and be quiet. He always hated making Kolivan angry.

“Well? Explain yourselves!” Kolivan ordered, his voice firm.

“Keith insulted my dad, Sir!” Dartok told Kolivan, and Keith turned toward the Galran teen in disbelief. That was an outrageous lie!

“I did not!” Keith told Kolivan. “I just told him that his dad is dead, which is the truth, anyway! And besides, he called you an old bag of fleas!”

Dartok growled and Keith returned it with a hiss of his own. He might not have fangs like other Galra, but he still could try showing himself as someone who should not be messed with. Emphasis on ‘try’. 

Before him, Kolivan rubbed the bridge of their nose and let out a sigh in trepidation.

“Conflicts are unavoidable with so many beings from different cultures, but never forget that we are all here for the same reason, the same cause”, Kolivan said. “Zarkon doesn’t care if you are warp-capable beings or pre-warp beings. He doesn’t care if you’re full-Galra, half-Galra, or Non-Galra. He will destroy us all given the chance, and he will not discriminate between us.”

Keith pouted. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dartok doing the same. The two of them said nothing.

“Both of you will do cleaning duties under Sister Kimne for three days. During those times, you two are not allowed to access the Recreation Deck”, Kolivan ordered.

“You can’t order me around!” Dartok cried out, outraged.

“Yes, I can, as a matter of fact”, Kolivan returned calmly. “Chief Leroka recently assigned me a duty to manage the settlement as a new chief, and that includes managing errant younglings like you two. Now, you need to work out the differences between you, or there will be consequence.” 

Dartok huffed and stomped out of Kolivan’s room. Keith moved to follow, but Kolivan called him. “Keith, wait.”

Pouting, Keith turned back on his heels, refusing to meet Kolivan’s eyes.

“You need to use your head if you want to be a Blade”, Kolivan told Keith. “You can’t go around punching everyone just because they said something stupid.”

“It’s just— argh!” Keith groaned in frustration. “Why are you so unbothered by people’s lack of respect?”

“Respect is earned, and so far I have been too busy raising you to earn it”, Kolivan answered. “Why does it bother you so much?”

“It’s just… unfair”, Keith said with low voice. “You used to be the leader of the Blades, and now you’re not because… because you had to raise me. Don’t you feel at least a little bit bothered by it?”

Much to his surprise, Kolivan let out a small chuckle instead and they ruffled Keith’s hair. Immediately, Keith felt tension leaving him and he gave Kolivan a small smile.

“I don’t feel bothered by it. It was my decision to raise you away from the dangers for being at the headquarters”, Kolivan told him. “You don’t know how it was back at the headquarters. Every  _ dobosh _ felt like waiting for Imperial ships to come knocking at our front door. It was an unhealthy environment to raise a kit.”

“So you don’t regret it…?” Keith asked.

“Not in the slightest, no”, Kolivan returned, their voice firm but their eyes were kind.

“Oh”, was all Keith said. He didn’t know what else to say.

“Was that what was bothering you?” Kolivan asked. “You think that I regret taking you in as a kit of my own?”

“Not really…”, Keith paused, before reconsidering his own feeling. “Okay, maybe just a little bit.”

There were times when he felt that way. He couldn’t help it, he supposed. As he grew closer to Kolivan, it became apparent just how much the older Galra had sacrificed for Keith’s comfort and wellbeing.

Aside from giving up the leadership position, apparently Kolivan also left a lover named Antok back in the headquarters. Even worse, the two of them couldn’t communicate with each other because of the distance between Loszet System and the headquarters. Keith knew Kolivan had been missing Antok terribly.

Sometimes, when the two of them were alone, Kolivan would tell Keith about Antok. Not much, of course, because they still had to maintain the secrecy of Antok’s identity as a Blade fighter. Keith never saw Antok’s picture, which only made him more curious about the person who caught Kolivan’s heart.

“Oh, Keith…” Kolivan’s smile widened, and their face softened. “I would never regret taking you in. I admit it was not the easiest, especially when you act out like just now, but rest assured. Never once I regretted my decision to take you in.”

Keith mulled over Kolivan’s words in his head and decided to trust Kolivan. 

After all, who else was he going to trust?

— 

The next day, Keith and Dartok started the cleaning duties at five in the morning sharp. Sister Kimne, who was managing the cleanliness of the settlement, gave the two of them two buckets filled with soap and told them to scrub the bathroom floor clean.

Cleaning the bathroom, Keith found, was a grueling task — even more so that his partner was a complete idiot. Keith didn’t understand why Dartok felt the need to follow him around. It wasn’t practical, first of all. They would finish the cleaning much quicker if they went their separate ways and covered more grounds. And Dartok was whining the whole time, second of all. It grated at Keith’s nerves even more than he already did by following him around.

“I just don’t understand it! We have cleaning bots!” Dartok said for the umpteenth time already. Keith pretended not to hear him and decided to scrub the floor harder, or else he would be tempted to throw the soap-soaked brush in his hand straight into Dartok’s head.

“This is so unfair. They’re treating us like slaves! I bet they’re having a laugh out of it”, Dartok continued, and that… ticked Keith off.

“Stupid whiny spoiled little brat”, Keith grumbled to himself and scrubbed the floor harder. 

“What did you say?” Dartok growled, pausing his work as he glared at Keith.

“I said, you’re a stupid whiny spoiled little brat”, Keith repeated louder. “And stay the  _ fuck _ away from me, you dickhead!”

“What did you just call me?” Dartok’s eyes narrowing. “Are you using your primitive language to insult me?!”

Keith wondered which word that didn’t translate over the universal translator, but decided that he didn’t care. “I said”, he growled instead. “Stay the  _ fuck _ away from me, you annoying piece of shit!”

Dartok roared and pounced at Keith, but Keith was ready. He dumped the soap water in his bucket on the floor, causing Dartok to slip and fall comically on the floor. Dartok looked stunned for a few precious seconds, before he glared at Keith, fury in his eyes.

“You’re going to pay for that, you— you—” Dartok didn’t have the chance to finish his sentence when Keith dumped the soap water in Dartok’s bucket over his head. The Galra teen looked absolutely  _ hilarious _ like this, soaked wet and spluttering curses.

“Catch me if you can!” Keith taunted, before turning around and running away from the bathroom. He managed to catch Dartok slipping and falling on the floor once again before he dashed as fast as he could to escape Dartok’s wrath.

Keith found that being smaller than average Galra had some advantages. Namely, some vents in the settlement were large enough for him to fit inside. Keith found this when he was playing hide-and-seek with Regris a couple years ago. Regris found it hilarious that Keith could even climb into the vent at all. Sometimes when he found himself angry at Kolivan, he hid in the vent, much to the older Galra’s amusement. 

He  _ still _ fit inside the vent, even after hitting his growth spurts, and Keith was not ashamed to use it to his advantage. He crawled deep into the vent system — he knew it like the back of his hand — and waited until he heard Dartok’s heavy footsteps disappearing. He waited for a  _ dobosh _ or three before crawling out of the vent.

Deciding that it was safe, Keith returned to the bathroom and locked the door behind him. The bathroom was a mess after the fight, and Keith decided that he didn’t want to be scolded more. So he picked up his brush and began to clean at earnest.

—

As it turned out, Sister Kimne heard about his fight with Dartok in the bathroom, and naturally she was not pleased  _ at all _ . 

Sister Kimne was an Olkarian-Galra, with slender build and slightly hunched from age. Still, she looked absolutely terrifying as she loomed over Dartok and Keith, and Keith swallowed thickly as she began to rant.

“Right now, there are countless of Blade agents risking their lives to keep us all safe, and you repay them with petty fights?!” she scolded, her hands on her hips as she glared at both Keith and Dartok. 

Keith guiltily shifted his eyes. Next to him, Dartok was puffing from anger. Dartok’s dad, Keith knew, was one of those agents who died in a mission to sabotage some Empire outpost. Keith suddenly felt bad for bringing up about the fact that he was dead to Dartok — only just a little, though, because seriously, Dartok was  _ annoying _ .

“Must I remind you that our organization is built on  _ trust? _ And what is trust if we cannot work together amongst ourselves?” Sister Kimne continued on with her rant.

“Keith called me  _ something _ in his primitive language”, Dartok told Sister Kimne, and  _ okay _ , Keith thought. Dartok was a tattle-tale.

“Ah-ah!” Sister Kimne tutted. “Every beings here are equal. No one is better than the other! If you cannot respect your fellow being, Dartok, then you have no business to be here.”

Dartok pouted, but his shoulders slumped as he was chided. He was still the son of a Blade, after all, and he had never made it a secret that he wished to join the Blade’s rank one day. Still, Keith silently agreed with Sister Kimne, that Dartok needed to lose his prejudice against other beings if he wanted to be a Blade in the future. After all, according to Kolivan, the Blade of Marmora consisted of many Part-Galra and Non-Galra.

“And Keith, can you explain to me the word you used to call Dartok?” Sister Kimne asked, turning to Keith.

“I called him ‘dickhead’”, Keith admitted, looking away from Sister Kimne’s gaze and pouting. “It’s— it was a very rude word.”

“I see. And are you going to repeat that very rude word again?” Sister Kimne asked again.

“No, I won’t.”

Sister Kimne beamed, satisfied. “Alright, you two. Now you still have two days of your punishment. Today, you will clean the hangar floor. Scrub it clean from grease and gunks. And I will not hear further incident from you two, or I will be handling your punishment to Sister Dhina. Understood?”

Keith stared at Sister Kimne in horror — Sister Dhina was a fearsome Galra. She would probably make them do something really awful as punishment, like preparing meals for the whole settlement or something. Keith would rather not have that if possible.

“Understood?” Sister Kimne repeated with an emphasis to her word.

“Understood”, Keith and Dartok answered at the same time.

Cleaning the hangar, while just as grueling as cleaning the bathroom, actually was less annoying. Probably because Dartok whined less than the day before, which, hey, it suited Keith just fine. Diligently, he brushed the hangar floor with soap water, mindful of the ships parked there, and ignored Dartok through the whole thing.

Regris came after the lunchtime and he made himself comfortable over one of the fighter ships while watching Keith work. Keith took a quick break from cleaning, and gratefully accepted a couple of  _ lokka  _ meat sticks from his friend. He was sweaty and he felt gross with grease and soap water clinging to his jumpsuit, but the  _ lokka _ sticks were delicious.

“Thanks for the distraction, Regs”, Keith told Regris before taking a mouthful bite of his  _ lokka _ stick. It tasted salty and slightly sweet. More importantly, it was food, and Keith had been feeling rather hungry since he skipped lunchtime to clean the hangar.

“That bad, huh?” Regris chuckled but not cruelly. His tail was swaying from side to side from amusement and Keith couldn’t find it in him to resent him. “Remember when I snuck up into the communication room? I  _ wish _ I got punished with cleaning duties. It looks so easy.”

Keith remembered that particular incident, though Regris never told him what kind of punishment he received. He only told Keith that it was something that traumatized him for life and made him swear off from sneaking up into anywhere he wasn’t supposed to go. Keith’s curiosity was piqued, but before he could ask anything else, Dartok came up to them and glared at them.

“Are you going to help or are you going to dawdle?” Dartok asked, his hands on his hips. His jumpsuit were damp too and he looked ridiculous with his fur sticking up messily.

“After this one stick, jeez, calm down”, Keith answered, before finishing his  _ lokka _ stick in one large bite. He threw the stick to Regris, who chunked it into a nearby incinerator chute. “Talk to you later.”

“Have fun!” Regris said before leaving the hangar, leaving Keith alone with Dartok.

Keith chuckled, before going back to work, scrubbing stain and grease away from the floor with a soap-soaked brush. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dartok shaking his head before going to clean another part of the hangar.

The whole thing was over just before dinnertime and Keith was itching for a shower before he could get some food. He was tired and his bones and muscles ached from the exertion. Not to mention that he felt gross all over. However, when he was heading toward the bathroom, he found that Dartok, Rani, and Nuala were already in there.

And they were talking about  _ him _ .

“I mean, I just don’t understand why I can’t call him primitive. He did come from a pre-warp world still untouched from this war. What does he understand about the war and stuff?” Dartok’s voice came through the door and Keith could hear Rani and Nuala agreeing with him.

Keith hesitated from entering the bathroom. He  _ really _ didn’t want to deal with this right now. He didn’t understand Dartok’s fixation with his supposed primitiveness — and he didn’t think he  _ wanted _ to understand. With that in mind, he walked away from the bathroom.

He just hoped that the bathroom in another level was empty.

—

Keith’s belongings fit inside three boxes — his Earth clothes, his dad’s books, and some of his family photo albums. They were tucked underneath his bed in his room. After taking the shower and ate his dinner, Keith returned to his room early to get one of the boxes out — the one with his Earth clothes. He didn’t need them, living in space where clothes could be easily made from fabric synthesizer, and he had outgrown a lot of them. He supposed he was only keeping them out of nostalgia.

In the box, on the top of his clothes, laid a thick red knitted scarf. It was one of his clothes that he could still wear every now and then, but he rarely wore it, afraid that he would destroy it. However, right now, he needed it — needed the reminder of home, of a house in a desert town, with its two inhabitants who loved Keith so utterly and unconditionally it hurt whenever Keith remembered it.

Layla and Jamie Brown were Keith’s foster moms who lived in a small town on Sonoran Desert, Arizona. He landed at their doorstep after his dad died and men in nice suits decided that he needed special need care. Right now, in space far away from Earth, Keith found that he missed them terribly.

How old were they now? Forty? Fifty? Would they remember him still if he popped on their doorstep? They had to — they said they wouldn’t forget him. They were so happy for him when Kolivan took him in. They just wanted what was best for him — and they thought living with Kolivan was what was best for him.

Keith brought the scarf to his nose and was disappointed when he could no longer smell the fabric softener that Layla used. It smelled sterile now, but if Keith closed his eyes, it felt as if he could smell that long lost scent.

He took off his shoes and climbed up his bed. His roommates were still somewhere out and Keith thought he could fall asleep like that, wrapped in the scarf and the silence that hung over the room, like thick comfortable blanket.

And he did. He fell asleep not long after. And he dreamed.

He dreamed about floating in the nothingness. It was dark as the void and there was literally nothing there — but then he noticed the light that came from… some kind of rope? The rope was glowing bright and golden, and when Keith approached it, it seemed like it was made from multiple strands, too many for him to count, and they were intertwined together.

This was an odd dream, he thought, and he was curious about the rope. Tentatively, he brushed his finger into one of the strands and let out a yell when flashes of images exploded in his mind’s eyes. It happened way too fast for him to understand, but there was a feeling of warmth enveloping him like a thick blanket. There was some kind of familiarity to it too, and it felt like… 

_ Keith? _ Kolivan’s voice echoed in the void he was in, and Keith blinked. He was not expecting to hear Kolivan’s voice in his dream.

But was it a dream, really? It felt so clear and so vivid, like he was half-awake through the whole thing.

_ Do you finally realize your bonds? _ Kolivan’s voice asked.

“Bonds?” Keith asked back.

_ I told you once. Galra as a species have very strong sense of family. So strong that we are bound by mental links to those we consider family _ , Kolivan’s voice said, and Keith blinked as he remembered the same thing that Kolivan said years ago, back when he still lived on Earth.

“So I’m bonded to you?” Keith asked, curious.

_ You are Krolia’s kit, and I am Krolia’s brother-in-arms. We are connected through her _ , Kolivan’s voice explained.

“Huh”, Keith hummed. “So this is all real? Am I not dreaming?”

_ It is possible that you are dreaming _ , Kolivan’s voice said.  _ But who’s to say that it is not real? _

Keith didn’t understand, he couldn’t understand. His head was spinning, and his hand reached toward the bond. His fingers brushed at one of the strands. And then he felt like gravity was finally working all of a sudden, and he was falling, falling, falling—

When he woke up, Keith felt his eyes were wet. He wiped the tears from his eyes, confused, before deciding to go back to sleep.

He didn’t dream about the bond again.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Keith’s punishment was over, his lessons resumed as usual. In the morning, after doing his morning routine, he headed toward the Education Deck with Regris.

Regris had helped him cover up the topics he missed so that he wouldn’t fall behind with his studies. Keith didn’t know where he would be without Regris helping him, so he made a mental note to give his friend something nice for Dral’Zaivarti that year. Maybe some game set —Keith knew Regris  _ loved _ board games. Maybe he could ask Kolivan if they could get him some board game from the space mall.

The Education deck was full of younglings — some were older than Keith but some were younger. Kolivan once told Keith that there were roughly four hundred younglings living on the settlement, and roughly three hundred of them were studying at the Education Deck. To help with teaching the younglings, some capable adults were employed as teachers to assist the actual teachers.

Today’s lesson for his class was astrophysics. The teacher, Maestro Belu, was an Axocarian. The Axocarium Empire had been destroyed by Zarkon ten thousand years ago and some Axocarians which still remained joined the Blade of Marmora to help them fight against Zarkon in any way they could.

The Axocarians were silicon-based mechanical/non-biological beings. They would continue to function until they were destroyed. They looked non-humanoid too, with blocky figure and faceless ‘head’. Maestro Belu had smooth metallic looking casing with geometrical pattern on its body, and when it spoke, its voice was cold and tinny.

It told the class about black holes, about how to calculate its gravitational pull. It sounded very interesting — and important too if Keith was going to be a pilot. However, Keith found that he could barely focus on the lesson.

He still remembered the disaster that was his first pilot lesson. Kolivan had put it on pause when Keith was punished for fighting Dartok, but he expected it to continue again. However, he still hadn’t heard anything from Kolivan, and Keith was reluctant to ask the older Galra about it. 

What if Kolivan decided that Keith was too awful as a pilot and stopped the lesson? Keith knew deep down that Kolivan would tell him so if that was the case — but what if Kolivan postponed from telling Keith about it until the time was right?

When the bell rang and the class was dismissed, Keith felt like his head was filled with jello. He trudged out of the classroom, not looking forward for his next class after lunchtime. He wished he could skip the class.

However, he found Kolivan by the lift on the Education Deck. Their ears perked up as they saw him and they approached him. “Keith, where were you? I was waiting for you at the hangar”, they said.

Keith blinked, confused.

“The… hangar?” he asked dumbly.

Kolivan’s ears twitched and Keith could tell that they were part-annoyed, part-amused. “For your pilot lesson, remember?”

“Oh”, Keith said. “Sorry, I—” He couldn’t tell Kolivan his thought about whether they would cancel his pilot lesson or not. “I forgot about it. I had a lot in my mind”, he ended up saying. It was not a lie, technically. He did have a lot in his mind.

“Oh well. Let’s go grab some lunch, then. We can still go out afterward — I have excused you from your next class with your teacher”, Kolivan told Keith.

The two of them headed toward the mess hall. It was already cramped there, but they managed to find an empty table for themselves. Keith drank his soup glumly and he avoided Kolivan’s odd stare.

“Keith”, Kolivan called him, just as he feared. “What was the human saying? A penny for your thought?”

“Um”, Keith didn’t know how to tell Kolivan about his thoughts, but Kolivan’s face was so open and earnest that it hurt Keith a bit to see it. “Are you—” he paused a bit, licking his lips. “Are you sure you still want to teach me how to pilot?”

“Of course I do”, Kolivan answered without missing a beat. “Is that what you’re afraid of?”

“Y-yeah…” Keith said. “I— I mean, you remember how the first lesson went. It was a complete disaster.”

“It was not a complete disaster, Keith”, Kolivan told him gently. “It was only your first lesson, after all. Nobody gets it right on their first try.”

“Even my mom?” Keith asked.

Kolivan blinked. “Ah… well”, they said, hesitation clear in their voice. “You see, she had always been different. She was tenacious and talented.”

Which meant that she probably aced her pilot lesson right from the start. That didn’t make Keith feel better — instead, it made him feel worse. Keith looked down on his plate and poked his food glumly.

“You’re not her, Keith. That doesn’t make you worse than her”, Kolivan said. “You’re talented, I can see that, perhaps even more than her. You will get better with enough practice.”

“You think so?” Keith asked.

“I know so”, Kolivan answered.

Keith gave them a small smile. He knew Kolivan wouldn’t lie to him, so it made him feel a little bit better.

After finishing lunch, Keith followed Kolivan to the hangar, feeling slightly anxious but excited at the same time. The two of them climbed into one of the fighter ships, and Kolivan took it out of the particle barrier.

In no time, they arrived at the same system as before. Kolivan gave the pilot’s chair to Keith and Keith could feel both anxiety and excitement churning inside his stomach. It was awful, and he felt like he was going to throw up. However, he gripped the control sticks tightly and pushed the ship into the nebula.

Just like before, red alert blared inside the ship as the ship shook mightily. Keith quickly pressed the inertia stabilizer buttons to compensate with the interference from the nebula. Soon, the ship stopped shaking and Keith, still slightly shaky, took the ship to fly inside the nebula.

Keith found that the interference from the nebula changed in intensity from time to time, so he had to stabilize the ship every now and then. It was slightly overwhelming having to adjust the buttons while also piloting the ship, but within an hour, he managed to do it rather smoothly.

“You’re doing great, Keith”, Kolivan told him after they completed a trip inside the nebula. Keith grinned at them proudly and they gave his hair a quick ruffle. “Now, why don’t you take us back home?”

“You think I can do it?” Keith asked, almost too eager.

“I know you can do it”, Kolivan answered, before teaching Keith how to bring the ship into the hyperjump. It was easy enough — however, the challenge was to keep the ship steady. A minor alteration to the ship’s course would bring them far away from Loszet-9.

In the end, they appeared a couple lightyears away from Loszet-9, which wasn’t really that terrible, really. However, when Keith was ready to hand the controls back to Kolivan so that they could enter the planet’s atmosphere and through its permastorm, Kolivan simply shook their head.

“You do it”, they said. “If you can navigate your way through the nebula, you can navigate your way through the permastorm.”

Keith blinked, but did as he was told. And it turned out, Kolivan was right — of course they were. Navigating through the electrical storm was easier than the nebula, Keith found, and he brought the ship into the hangar as smoothly as he could.

Once the ship was parked, Keith let go of the control sticks and let out a deep, deep sigh. That was rather nerve wracking, and he was glad that it was over. For now.

“Good job, Keith. I knew you could do it”, Kolivan praised him.

Keith gave them a small smile in return.

—

And so the pilot lesson became Keith’s new routine. After breakfast, Keith would head straight to the hangar where Kolivan would be waiting for him. They would take one of the fighter ships for two hours or more, depending on Kolivan’s availability. Sometimes they would have lunch  _ and _ dinner inside the ship. At the end of the day, Kolivan would fill Keith in with the normal lessons that he was supposed to learn that day.

“Pay attention, Keith”, Kolivan chided him during one of his astrophysics lesson. “You need to be able to calculate the black hole’s gravitational pull if you want to be a pilot.”

“Why is it so important to learn about this?” Keith asked out of curiosity.

“Because our headquarters is located between twin black holes and a blue giant star”, Kolivan answered. “And if you want to become a Blade pilot one day, you need to be able to take your ship in and out of the headquarters safely.”

Keith gaped. Kolivan was joking, right?

“No way!” he cried out.

Kolivan’s ears twitched in amusement. “Yes way”, they said, and Keith let out a helpless laugh.

“I mean— just  _ how?! _ ” Keith couldn’t wrap his head around it. He thought black holes would consume everything close enough to be caught in their gravitational field, so how could it be possible that the headquarters was located  _ between _ them?

“The headquarters is equipped with solar barrier to prevent it from falling into the event horizon”, Kolivan answered. “Of course it’s a temporary solution. Eventually, the solar barrier would fail and the headquarters would be pulled toward one of the black holes.”

The Blade of Marmora was  _ insane _ , Keith thought. But he paid more attention to the lesson after that.

With his lessons going so well, Keith should have known that things couldn’t be all good in his life. There was always something that didn’t go as he wished, something that would ruin his good mood. In this case, it was his relationship with his roommates.

Keith wasn’t blind. He noticed the way Dartok, Nuala, and Rani looked at him — with contempt, as if Keith’s entire existence offended them. Keith tried his best to ignore them, but he knew things would blow up sooner rather than later.

And of course he was right. He was one week into his pilot lesson before things went downhill. It seemed that Dartok, Nuala, and Rani were testing him at every turn.

First, Rani tripped Keith with her tail when he headed to the bathroom to begin his morning routine. Keith managed to not fall flat on his face, but when he glared at her, she feigned innocence. Keith simply rolled his eyes and moved on with his life.

Secondly, he arrived to his bed all torn up after coming home from his pilot lesson, its fillings scattered all over the room. Keith simply sighed and asked Sister Raya who managed the Child Ward for a replacement bed.

Lastly, and the worst of all, Keith found that someone had stolen his red scarf — the one that Layla gave him.

“Okay, which one of you took my scarf?” Keith finally snapped and confronted his roommates.

“What are you talking about? What scarf?” Rani asked with a nasty smirk on her face.

“Don’t play dumb. I know it’s one of you guys who took it”, Keith growled. “Hand it over now and I won’t tell Sister Raya about the things you’ve done to me.”

“Oh, you mean this filthy thing?” Nuala asked as she took out Keith’s scarf from her jumpsuit pocket. She dangled it in front of her face and gave Keith a look like he was a dirt under her shoes. “This  _ primitive _ artifact?”

“Give it back!” Keith shouted at her, but when he moved to approach her, she unsheathed her claws.

“Careful. You don’t want me accidentally  _ destroying _ it— ah hey!” Nuala cried out when Regris sneaked up behind her and took the scarf from her hand. He handed it over to Keith, who immediately inspected it for any sign of damage. He sighed in relief when he couldn’t find it, and held it close to his chest.

“It’s not fair! Why do you always get the special treatment?” Nuala hissed at Keith, before turning at Regris. “And don’t even try to lie. I know you’re  _ jealous _ of him. I’ve seen it in your eyes.”

“I’m not!” Regris returned, his tail twitching from anger. “Keith is my friend!”

“You’re just jealous because you’re not skilled enough to be selected for pilot lesson”, Keith added. “Maybe if you spend your time to actually hone your skill instead of messing with me, you’ll get selected too one day.”

“Why you little—” Dartok growled, but before he could finish his sentence, Chahru stepped in between them.

Chahru was a Draconian, a cosmozoan species that could survive in the vacuum of space, much like a Yalex or a Weblum. Though they were small in stature, they could shapeshift into a larger dragon-like being. Right then, Keith eyed Chahru warily, afraid that they would shapeshift in the bedroom.

“Guys, that’s enough”, they said instead, their voice calm. “Let’s just go to bed.”

Dartok, Rani, and Nuala glared at Chahru, before eventually turning to their beds. Keith let out a sigh as tension left his body, but he eyed Chahru, still confused. He thought Chahru was Dartok, Rani, and Nuala’s friend.

“Thanks for your help”, Keith told Chahru.

Chahru simply shrugged. “We all should get along if we want to work together as Blades”, they said. “I don’t envy you, Keith. You have a long road ahead of you.”

With that, they turned away and climbed their own bed. Keith blinked at them in confusion, before eyeing Regris, who gave him a shrug. The two of them followed their roommates and climbed their beds, ready to go to sleep.

He still thought about what Chahru said about having a long road ahead of him. 

What did they mean by that?

—

A couple days later, Kolivan went on a supply run, so they postponed Keith’s pilot lesson until they returned. During that time, they told Keith to attend his classes as normal.

Except he couldn’t help but feel worried for Kolivan. Supply run meant that they had to go to a spaceport. This spaceport was usually controlled by the Empire, which meant there was a chance for them to be captured if their true identity was exposed. Last time Kolivan went for a supply run several years ago, three people didn’t make it back to the settlement and Kolivan was deeply injured. It was scary.

Keith tried to tell Kolivan about his worry, but they simply gave his hair a reassuring ruffle and told him to study well. He knew that Kolivan could handle themself and that the supply run was necessary for everyone in the settlement, but the worry was still there.

On the first day attending his class after Kolivan left, Keith could barely understand what Maestro Belu was trying to teach him. He was so distracted that he didn’t hear the maestro calling his name to solve an equation, until Regris nudged him on his side and whispered the calculation from the corner of his mouth.

“Thanks, Regs. I really owe you one”, Keith told Regris once the class was dismissed and the two of them were heading down to the mess hall.

“Don’t mention it”, Regris said, his tail flicking. His face was clear with worry, so Keith turned his gaze aside right before Regris opened his mouth. “Is it because of Kolivan leaving?”

“Yeah. I’m just really,  _ really _ worried for them, you know”, Keith told Regris resignedly.

“You shouldn’t be worried”, a voice came from behind him, and for a brief moment Keith thought it was Regris — but no, it was Chahru.

“Yeah?” Keith blinked in confusion at the Draconian hatchling.

“My progenitor went with them, so you know they’ll be safe”, Chahru said with a small shrug.

Chahru’s progenitor was Chief Angh, an adult Draconian who had been alive since Zarkon’s ascension ten thousand years ago. They had been an active part of the resistance even before the Blade of Marmora was conceived. The fact that they still lived even after the Lament of Marmora that nearly wiped out the organization one thousand years ago said something about their tenacity.

Keith didn’t know that Kolivan left with Chief Angh, but he supposed that did make him feel better.

“Thanks, Chahru”, Keith told the Draconian hatchling with a small smile.

“Not a problem”, Chahru returned, showing their sharp teeth. “You two should come and eat with me. Feeding session can get pretty lonely.”

Keith eyed Regris, who gave him a small shrug, before turning back to Chahru. “Sure, why not”, he said. “We’ll get some food, but then we’ll catch up with you.”

“Cool. Meet me on the Observatory Deck”, Chahru said, before leaving Keith and Regris.

“That was weird”, Regris commented once Chahru disappeared into the lift.

Keith couldn’t help but silently agreed.

The two of them then headed toward the mess hall and grabbed some food from the food synthesizer. The mess hall was full of people as it was right at peak lunchtime, and Keith was quietly grateful that they didn’t have to eat there. He and Regris then headed toward the lift that would take them up to the Observatory Deck.

The Observatory deck was nearly deserted save from a few older younglings studying there. It didn’t take long until they found Chahru, sitting in one corner by the viewer and already in their Draconian form. There was an antigrav trolley loaded with funny-smelling meat in front of them that they nibbled uninterestedly.

“Hey”, Keith greeted Chahru as he and Regris approached them. They lifted their head slightly and sat a little bit straighter. Keith and Regris sat in front of them and put their trays on the floor. Then, they began to eat.

While they ate, Keith couldn’t help but staring at Chahru. Their scales were dark, so dark it was almost void-like, even under the yellowish lighting that came from the viewer. This was the first time Keith saw a Draconian in their true form, and he thought it was rather beautiful. 

“What meat is that?” the silence was broke by Regris, who was pointing at the meat in front of Chahru.

“Baku meat, right?” Keith answered for Chahru, and when they eyed Keith weirdly, Keith blushed slightly. “I read about your species during our xenobiology lesson.”

Chahru opened their mouth as if they were going to speak, when the lift door opened and Kolivan walked into the Observatory Deck. Keith was surprised to find them there.

“Kolivan!” Keith called out to them. “I thought you’re not going to be back in a couple of days!”

“We don’t have much time. Keith, you need to—” their sentence was cut off when red alert blared inside the settlement, causing Keith and Regris to jump on their feet immediately. Kolivan looked distraught. “Listen, you three. You need to evacuate. This is not a drill. The Empire is coming for us.”

“What?!” Keith cried out.

“There’s no time to explain. You need to hurry, now!” Kolivan said, before turning to the other younglings on the Observatory Deck. “All of you too, come and hurry!”

Keith didn’t understand what was happening, but it seemed like he didn’t have to. He turned to his friends, and Chahru was already shifting back into his humanoid form.

“Come on. Let’s take the stairs”, Keith told Chahru and Regris.

Chahru and Regris nodded, before following him.


	4. Chapter 4

Using the staircase, the three of them headed toward their room on the Child Ward. It was a disaster there with younglings running around and panicking, despite the Sisters trying to corral them as calmly as they could to the hangar.

As soon as the three of them reached their room, Keith quickly pulled two of the boxes from underneath his bed and dumped their contents into his bag. He wouldn’t need his old clothes, only his dad’s books and family photo albums. He also took his scarf from the bedpost and wound it around his neck. On the other side of the room, Regris and Chahru did the same, gathering their stuff as quickly as they could. 

They were done in no time and ready to head toward the hangar. That was when Nuala and Rani barrelled toward them.

“We can’t find Dartok!” Rani cried out in tears. 

Keith would say go to hell with Dartok, but he found that he couldn’t — the girls were clearly panicking and he couldn’t find it in his heart to tell them off. Besides, he wasn’t that cruel. If the red alert was real and the Empire was really coming for them all, he wouldn’t want anyone to fall victim to it, not even a bully like Dartok.

“Calm down, you two. Do you know where he might be?” he asked the girls, still trying to remain calm.

“We don’t know! He usually eats in the mess hall with us, but today he said he’s not feeling well”, Nuala told Keith.

“Usually when he’s not feeling well, he’ll go to the Observatory Deck”, Rani continued.

“We just came from the Observatory Deck — he wasn’t there”, Regris supplied helpfully.

“He could be in the Mourning Room”, Chahru said suddenly, and the four of them turned toward them. They gave them a small shrug. “It’s his dad’s death day in five days. He’s probably praying there.”

“Alright, you two go gather your stuff and Dartok’s and wait for us in the hangar”, Keith told Rani and Nuala. “Regris and I will get him to the evac ship. Chahru—”

“I’ll get your stuff and Regris’ to the evac ship”, Chahru interrupted, as if they could read Keith’s mind. Keith blinked but handed his bag to Chahru. Next to him, Regris did the same.

“Thank you so much, Keith. Thank you”, Nuala said, still in tears. “We know we haven’t been kind to you recently, but please, please get him safe.”

Keith swallowed any bitterness that threatened to rise, but he gave the two girls a nod before turning on his heels and headed toward the staircase once again. Behind him, Regris followed him like a loyal shadow, and Keith couldn’t be more grateful for his friend.

The Mourning Room was located in the Command Deck. It was a place where the Blades honored their dead, name plaques of the deceased lining its walls. People usually came there to remember their deceased relatives, and in some occasion to pray for the dead. If Dartok’s dad’s death day was coming up soon, it was very likely that Dartok would be there.

However, Keith couldn’t help the nagging feeling that Rani and Nuala were simply messing with him. The two of them could’ve lied about not being able to find Dartok, and they simply wanted Keith away from the evacuation procedure. Keith could feel anxiety bubbling in his stomach, which only got worse as he and Regris eventually reached the Command Deck.

He never thought he’d feel some kind of relief as he heard Dartok’s voice coming from the Mourning Room. The door was shut tightly and Keith couldn’t understand why, but he could hear Dartok was banging at the door.

“Help me! Please help me!” Dartok’s voice came from inside the Mourning Room.

“Dartok? This is Keith and Regris. What happened?” Keith asked once he approached the Mourning Room door.

“I don’t know! The door refused to open!” Dartok cried out. He sounded like he was crying, and Keith couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

“It could be some protocol that we don’t know”, Regris supplied. “I can probably hack into it.”

“Do it quick”, Keith told Regris. Regris gave him a nod, before turning to find the control panel by the door. Keith turned back to the door. “Dartok, we’re getting you out of here, you hear me? We’re not going to leave you.”

“T-thank you, Keith”, Dartok said with a sob.

It didn’t take long until Regris managed to hack into the mainframe and opened the locked door. Dartok quickly pounced and hugged Keith tightly. Keith, who was not expecting it at all, nearly toppled back and stiffened as Dartok sobbed and shook.

“It’s okay now, you’re okay”, Keith reassured Dartok. Dartok quickly sobered up though and he looked absolutely embarrassed at his outburst. Keith decided not to bring it up. Ever. “C’mon. Let’s head to the staircase.”

“Why don’t we use the lift?” Dartok asked.

“The lift had to be crowded with people evacuating and whatnot”, Regris answered before Keith could, and the three of them headed toward the emergency staircase. 

Before they could do it, the settlement shook and chunks of rocks rained down from the ceiling. Keith managed to dodge it in time, and so did Regris and Dartok. The three of them eyed the huge rocks that blocked the emergency staircase door.

Keith cursed, before sobering up. “Let’s go find another staircase.”

The three of them trotted through the hallway, where large windows lined the wall. Keith could see Imperial battlecruisers looming over the settlement, seemingly unfazed by the electrical storms. He could also see Imperial fighters flitting around and shooting laser beams toward the settlement.

Fear was not a familiar feeling, but now Keith could feel fear choking him up until he couldn’t breathe.

“Keith, come on!” Regris voice came in and pulled him out of his haze. Keith turned to his friend, shaking, but somehow he managed to follow Regris as they headed toward the other staircase.

The settlement shook every now and then, raining them with rocks and debris, but the three of them pushed forward. They found another staircase by the janitor room and used it to go to the hangar. 

In the hangar, Rani, Nuala, and Chahru were already waiting for them in front of one of the evacuation ships, and the three of them waved at Keith, Dartok, and Regris. 

“In here! Come on!” Nuala called to them.

The six of them entered the evacuation ship and huddled together in one corner. That was until a Blade trainee that Keith had never seen before approached them. 

“You’re Keith, right?” the trainee asked. “Chief Kolivan asked me to tell you that you need to pilot this evacuation ship now.”

“Wait, what?!” Keith spluttered. “But I— I mean, it’s— Can’t you do it?”

“I never learned how to pilot a ship”, the Blade trainee said ashamedly, their ears drooping. “Please, one of our pilots were injured in the evacuation process. We have to take this ship out there if we want to survive.”

Keith shook his head, shaking. “I— I can’t do it, it’s—”

“Keith”, Chahru interrupted him, their voice kind and gentle. Keith turned to face them. “You can do this. We believe in you.”

“Yeah, you’re the most talented pilot in our age group!” Dartok encouraged him, and Keith felt like the Universe had gone mad. He gave Dartok a long stare, and Dartok’s ears fluffed up in embarrassment. “I admit I was jealous of your talent, Keith. But right now, you need to pilot this ship to safety.”

“He’s right, Keith”, Regris added with a small grin. “Our lives depend on you. No pressure, though.”

“You’re the only one who can, Keith”, Nuala chimed in.

“Kolivan knows that you can do it, or else they won’t tell you to do it”, Rani said. “If you don’t believe in us, at least believe in Kolivan.”

She was right, Keith realized. If Kolivan didn’t think he could do it, they wouldn’t hand this burden over to him. They wouldn’t risk the life of a hundred refugees into his hands. Still shaking, Keith could feel determination slowly filling him. 

With one last glance to his friends and roommates, he stood up and headed toward the cockpit.

The cockpit of the evacuation ship was bigger, but Keith found that the control panels were the same as the Blade fighter he had used in his pilot lesson. He sat down on the pilot’s chair, buckling up, and turned on the engine. Immediately, Kolivan’s face popped up on the screen before him, along with several Blade pilots from the rest of the evacuation ships.

“Keith, finally you join us”, Chief Leroka said. She was a stern-looking Galra with heavy frown, but her voice was kind. “Alright, people. We need to wait until our fighters break through the battlecruisers. After that, we need to move in formation and hyperjump immediately. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Chief!” the Blade pilots and Keith replied.

“We’ll open up a path for the evac ships”, Kolivan said, and only then Keith realized that Kolivan was in one of the fighters.

“Kolivan—” Keith called out, his throat felt impossibly tight. “Be careful, okay?”

“Affirmative”, Kolivan returned, and Keith could hear playfulness in their voice.

The Blade fighters launched first, small ships going straight against the Imperial fighters and battlecruisers. Keith watched the fight with dread settling heavily in the stomach, and he gripped the control sticks tightly as he prayed to any god who listened. 

He couldn’t lose Kolivan, not like this.

“The path is clear!” Kolivan’s voice came through the comm.

“All ships, go!” Chief Leroka ordered, and Keith hit the thrusters immediately. As the ship exited the particle barrier and into the permastorm, it shook mightily, but Keith was ready.

Six evacuation ships broke through the atmosphere unscathed, but they were not safe yet. The Imperial battlecruisers were beginning to shoot at them, so they had to dodge around the ion blasts. Thankfully, there was a  _ dobosh _ or two while the ion canon recharged itself, and Keith and the other pilots used the chance to begin the hyperjump sequence.

“All ships, enter the hyperjump now!” Chief Leroka ordered. Keith punched the hyperdrive thruster and felt as if he was stretched backward as the ship entered the hyperjump.

Chief Leroka then sent all pilots — including Keith — a coordinate. Keith did a double take and ran a mental calculation. Wherever their destination was, it was very far away from Loszet System that it would probably require several hyperjumps on the span of a few days. Still, Keith dutifully entered the coordinate into the ship’s course and held the controls as steady as he could.

“Keith, you there?” Kolivan’s voice came through the comm, and Keith felt like he could cry hearing their voice. They were safe!

“I’m here”, Keith replied.

“Good job with the evacuation”, Kolivan praised. “That was a very smooth flying.”

Keith gave Kolivan a small chuckle. “Thanks for believing in me”, he returned.

“Anytime, Keith.”

—

The Blade fleet arrived at Taurii System where several planets orbited a pulsar. This was the first time Keith saw a pulsar up close and it was… beautiful in a terrifying way. After compensating with the pulsar’s gravitational pull, Keith waited for the next order.

As soon as every ships were accounted for, Chief Leroka instructed the fighter pilots to engage the gravity generators. Space-time folded around the evacuation ships, concealing them from outside view, and Keith could feel tension leaving him. It made him aware just how exhausted he was, but he knew he couldn’t drop his guard just yet.

“Pilots, rest up”, Chief Leroka’s voice came through the comm. “We have a long journey ahead of us and I cannot afford you to make mistake just because you are exhausted.”

With that order, Keith engaged the inertia dampener and rose up from the pilot’s chair. He exited the cockpit, but then he felt his knees buckling under him. He didn’t remember anything else as he blacked out.

He woke up after who knew how long, his consciousness slowly seeping into him like thick molasses. Once he opened his eyes in full, he noticed that he was lying down on the ship’s floor, surrounded by his roommates.

“Ssh! I think he’s waking up”, Keith could hear Nuala’s voice coming from his left.

“H’lo…” Keith managed to mumble out. “Wha’ happen’d?”

“You passed out”, Regris answered. “Sister Raya said you were exhausted.”

“Oh.” Keith didn’t know how to respond to that, but he did remember blacking out. It felt like days ago. “How long I’ve been out?”

“Just a few hours”, Dartok answered this time. “Chief Leroka gave us order to stay for a day in this system before entering the next hyperjump.”

“Oh”, Keith repeated.

“Rest up, Keith. We are here for you”, Chahru told him.

Keith did as he was told.

When he woke up again, he felt so much more refreshed than before and more alert of his surrounding. Some people were still asleep, but some were only beginning to wake. A few younger younglings were crying and their parents or their guardians were trying to calm them down.

The realization that all of them just lost their home hit him like an Imperial battlecruiser, and it was… scary. What was going to happen next? Keith didn’t know, but he trusted that Chief Leroka had to have a plan. Still, right now it felt like they were refugees who fled from their destroyed home into an unknown destination. Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared of what future might hold.

No, he couldn’t have a breakdown right now. Right now, he had a hundred people depending on him for their safety. Keith rubbed his face with his hand and accidentally brushed over his scarf.

What would Jamie and Layla think of him if they could see him now? Pride, probably, though he knew that the two of them would have a serious word with both Kolivan and Chief Leroka. Something about thrusting such a big responsibility onto him. It made Keith chuckle quietly, before he was hit by sadness.

He missed them, he found, and he missed Earth.

With a sigh, Keith shook his maudlin thoughts away and rose up from the floor he was sleeping on. His roommates were still asleep, so he carefully stepped around them so that he wouldn’t wake them up. As quietly as possible, he headed toward the cockpit.

“This is Keith reporting in”, Keith said through the comm, and he wasn’t surprised to see Kolivan’s face popping on the screen.

“Hello, Keith. Can’t sleep?” Kolivan asked.

“I just woke up”, Keith answered. “How long until we go into the next hyperjump?”

Kolivan’s eyes shifted to the side as if they were looking at something on their screen. “In a  _ varga _ or two”, they answered eventually. “You should rest, or get something to eat. There’s a food synthesizer in the evacuation ships.”

“I don’t think I can stomach any food right now”, Keith admitted.

“You need to eat, Keith”, Kolivan told him gently. “I worry about you. I wish I could relieve you of this burden.”

“I’m fine”, Keith returned. When Kolivan gave him a long stare, Keith sighed. “Fine, I’ll eat. You’re such a worrywart, you know that?”

“That word does not translate, but I can only assume it means something positive”, Kolivan said, a small smile on their lips. “Go eat, now.”

“Yessir”, Keith gave them a mock salute, before heading out of the cockpit again.

He found the food synthesizer in the ship’s galley. Several people were already occupying the seats, but they gave Keith a quiet nod as he walked past them. He quickly synthesized himself a bowl of soup before taking it to eat in the cockpit. He wasn’t lying when he said that he didn’t think he could stomach any food, but hopefully the soup was light enough to not cause an upset stomach while also fulfilling enough to not make him go hungry.

As he ate, one by one the other pilots were reporting in. Chief Leroka ordered them to get something to eat first before scheduling the hyperjump to commence in half a  _ varga _ . Keith was almost done with his soup, when the cockpit door opened and Regris walked in.

“First of all, this is so cool”, Regris said as he looked around at the control panels.

“Hey, what’s up?” Keith asked, before handing over his empty bowl to his friend. “Toss this into a recycle chute will you?”

Regris did as he was told, before leaning over on the back of the pilot’s chair. “Figured that you might be lonely”, he said.

“Not really”, Keith returned. “I was just finished talking with Kolivan.”

“Oh”, Regris said. “When are we going to go?”

“Less than half a varga”, Keith answered. 

“And where are we going to go?” Regris asked again.

Keith gave him a shrug. “I dunno, but it’s pretty far. We might need two or three hyperjumps to reach it.”

Regris seemed to mull over Keith’s words as he scratched his chin. Keith wondered what he was thinking about, but it seemed that he didn’t have to wait long.

“Could it be that we’re heading toward the headquarters?” Regris asked.

“The headquarters?” Keith asked back. “Why did you think that?”

“Just a hunch”, Regris answered with a small shrug. “I mean, we really don’t have any base that can handle over than seven hundred new arrivals. Well, aside from the headquarters of course.”

Keith remembered what Kolivan had told him about the headquarters — and realized that he had to navigate his way between twin black holes and a blue giant star. He let out a groan and buried his face in his hand.

“I don’t think I can do this”, he moaned.

“Why not?” Regris asked, his tail swaying curiously.

“Because… what if I made a mistake and we’re all going to be sucked into one of the black hole? What if I put everyone’s life in danger? What if—”

“Okay, Keith, calm down”, Regris told him. “First of all, you’re a damn good pilot. You just proved it by taking this ship out of Loszet System safely. Secondly, you’re not going to be alone. There are other ships, other more experienced pilot to help guide you.”

Well, Keith supposed Regris was right. But still…

“You can do this, Keith. I believe in you”, Regris continued.

Keith gave Regris a small smile. “Thanks, Regs.”

“Not a prob.”


	5. Chapter 5

The fleet exited hyperjump on Gorkel System next, a hyperjump away from the Blade of Marmora headquarters according to Regris’ calculation. The hyperdrive generators needed some time to rest and recharge, so once again the Blade fighters turned on the gravity generators and hid the fleet inside the space-time pocket.

Chief Leroka had told Keith to rest since the trip to the headquarters would be rough and challenging, and he needed to be completely focused to navigate the ship between the solar flares and the gravitational pull from the twin black holes. However, when Keith tried to rest on the pilot’s chair, he found that he couldn’t. He was just too antsy!

That was when he felt some kind of  _ thrum _ inside his head, like guitar strings being strummed. Keith blinked, and the  _ thrum _ repeated once again. It felt as if his entire being was flooded with warmth and reassurance and  _ Kolivan— _

_ Kolivan? _ Keith thought, confused.

_ I sensed that you are in distress. What’s the matter? _ Kolivan’s voice reverberating inside his head and wow— they could speak telepathically? That was so cool!

Amusement. Kolivan was amused, Keith realized.  _ Yes, Keith. Thanks to the bond, we can speak telepathically when we are close to each other _ , Kolivan’s voice inside his head said.  _ I suppose it was ‘cool’, as you younglings said _ .

Keith didn’t know the bond could do that, though he probably shouldn’t be surprised, seeing that it was a mental link that connected their minds. He wondered if Kolivan could read his mind.

_ Yes, I can read your mind when the link between us is open, like right now _ , Kolivan’s voice said.  _ If it bothers you so much, all you need is to imagine it closing. _

Keith imagined a door closing, and suddenly he couldn’t feel Kolivan’s presence in his head. It was so abrupt that he found himself reeling slightly from the loss of connection. But then he felt another thrum inside his head.

_ Kolivan? _ Keith asked.

_ I was not expecting you to close the connection right away _ , Kolivan said and Keith could sense both annoyance and amusement coming from them.  _ But you’re dodging my question. What caused you distress earlier? _

Oh. Keith couldn’t answer that — he couldn’t quite articulate the thing he was feeling so he tried to project that feeling onto Kolivan, hoping that they could somewhat understand it better than he did.

_ Hm. Interesting _ , Kolivan said.  _ You don’t think you can navigate the ship safely into the headquarters? _

_ Something like it _ , Keith admitted as he curled into himself on the pilot’s chair. He was tempted to walk out of the cockpit and join his roommates, but he didn’t want to leave it in case Chief Leroka commed him.  _ What if I make mistake and the ship gets pulled into one of the black holes? _

_ You should not let your worry for the future to cloud your judgement _ , Kolivan chided him.  _ You are the best pilot I have ever taught. Your worry is understandable, but it is unbased. _

_ I thought mom was the best pilot you have ever taught _ , Keith told Kolivan, feeling slightly bitter.

_ Krolia was not the one who took an evacuation ship between a barrage of ion blasts and saved a hundred of its passengers when she was a teenager _ , Kolivan said reassuringly. And, well… if they put it that way, it did sound pretty impressive.  _ Have confidence, Keith. _

Slowly, Keith could feel his anxiety lessening in intensity, and felt exhaustion seeping into his core. His link with Kolivan was still open, and he allowed them to send waves of reassurance through the bond.

He fell asleep like that, holding onto the bond like a safety blanket, and he didn’t dream. That helped with his anxiety, he supposed.

— 

The next day, the fleet finally arrived several lightyears away from the headquarters.

Just like Kolivan said, there were literally twin black holes that orbited each other. They were roughly the same sizes and their accretion disks were blue, just like the color of the gigantic star they were sucking. Near that star, too small to be viewed through the viewer, was an asteroid where the Blade of Marmora headquarters was located.

“Alright, pilots, the leadership just opened the solar flares for the next thirty  _ dobosh _ . Let’s make use of it quickly, shall we?” Chief Leroka asked.

“Affirmative”, Keith replied just as a wave of “copy that” and “roger that” was coming through the communication line.

This was it, Keith though. It was now or never.

Together, the ships moved in synchronized pattern as they weaved through the debris field. This close, Keith could see chunks of asteroids and destroyed Imperial fighters floating aimlessly as they were trapped between the gravitational pull of the twin black holes.

Keith’s grip on the control sticks were tense as he tried to follow the razor edge path between the gravitational pull from the twin black holes, the solar flare from the blue giant star, and the debris. Too many things could go wrong right there and then, but Keith’s hold of the control sticks were steady despite his fear.

When all ships entered the perimeter of the headquarters, the solar flare shut the path behind them. Keith didn’t want to imagine what would happen if he was late by a tick. He didn’t have time to think about it, though, as his ship entered through the solar barrier that protected the headquarters from the radiation from all three deadly celestial objects.

The hangar was surprisingly spacious, even more so than the one back at the settlement. More evacuation ships and Blade fighter ships lined up neatly. Lines on the floor guided the ships to empty parking spots in the hangar, and Keith followed them carefully. It wouldn’t do for him to make a stupid mistake and crash into another ship, just after he was worried that he would pilot the ship right into one of the black holes.

He powered down the ship and made sure it was parked right, before opening the bay doors. Taking a long,  _ long _ sigh, he eventually left the cockpit and joined the others out of the evacuation ships.

As he looked around, he saw Blade agents helping people from the evacuation ships and handed them warm food and fresh blanket. Tearful reunions were had and overall, people were glad that all of them made it to the headquarters. Keith didn’t have the chance to observe his surrounding more, however, when Kolivan approached him.

“You did a great job, Keith”, they told him with a certain softness that Keith rarely saw on them. “There’s someone who I’d like you to meet.”

Keith perked up at that. “Who is it?”

“You’ll see”, was Kolivan’s only answer, before they guided him away from the crowd. Keith followed them.

A very large Galra — probably the largest he’d ever seen — stood by the lift door as he talked to Chief Angh and Chief Leroka. The large Galra wore some kind of a wrap-around robe, similar to the one that Kolivan wore back when they were picking Keith up from Earth. As Kolivan and Keith came to approach the group, the large Galra looked toward them, his tail perking up in apparent interest.

Kolivan didn’t waste a time to pull the large Galra into their hug, the two of them were pressing their foreheads together in a form of Galran intimacy, and Kolivan even had a large smile on their face. That was when realization dawned on Keith.

“Is this Antok?” Keith asked, and all four adults looked toward him.

“That’s  _ Leader _ Antok for you”, Chief Leroka chided him.

“It’s fine, Leroka”, Antok said, before turning to Keith. “And yes. My name is Antok. I am Kolivan’s mate. That makes you my family.”

Keith performed a Blade salute, regardless, which Antok returned. They were still the leader of the Blade of Marmora, and that alone should make Keith respect him. 

“Kolivan told me a lot about you”, Keith said with a grin, and Kolivan’s ears fluffed up in embarrassment.

“Did they now?” Antok asked rhetorically as he eyed Kolivan, his tail swaying lightly.

“Yup. Though they never told me you’re also our leader”, Keith returned.

“Because that is top secret information”, Kolivan said, their ears were still fluffing up. “Anyway, I just wanted to introduce you two, and now that it is done, I wish to get Keith retire for the day.”

“I’ve prepared sublevel eight as the new Child Ward”, Antok told Kolivan.

“I— ah, I wished to let him sleep with me for the night”, Kolivan said, and Keith was surprised to hear the protective tone in their voice.

“Then my room is yours as always”, Antok returned warmly, before turning toward Keith. “Welcome to the Blade of Marmora headquarters. I wish that you will find safety here.”

“Thank you, um, Leader Antok”, Keith said, before following Kolivan into the lift.

The Blade of Marmora headquarters, Keith found, was rather gloomy. There was no window or viewer to look outside and the walls and the ceiling were seemingly made out of unpolished rocks. The floor though was smooth and pale purple line glowed, bathing the room in strange purple hue.

Antok’s room was located in sublevel three and it was… rather spacious, enough to accommodate a small family. There was a large nest bed at one corner of the room, and Kolivan headed toward it with no hesitation at all. When they began to undress, Keith blushed and looked at anywhere but Kolivan — he was still not used to the Galra’s odd sense of modesty.

“Computer, two sleeping robes, medium size and small size”, Kolivan said, and a synthesizer dinged in one wall of the room. 

Keith turned his gaze to the odd looking plants lining the wall, and his eyes caught the sight of a holo-projector thingy on one of the shelves. Kolivan and a strange one-eyed alien were in it and the two of them wore really fancy robes. It took Keith embarrassingly long before he realized that the one-eyed alien was most likely Antok, and this had to be their Galran wedding photo or something like it.

“I can’t believe Antok turned  _ my _ room into some sort of a greenhouse”, Keith could hear Kolivan grumbling. When he turned to Kolivan, they were already wearing a sleeping robe and was in the middle of loosening their braided hair.

“Well, he does seem to like plants”, Keith returned as he eyed the plants. There were more on the desks, he found, and on the headboard of the nest bed.

“He loves xenobiology, especially xenobotany”, Kolivan said, and  _ oh well _ . That explained everything, Keith thought.

Keith changed into his sleeping robe and joined Kolivan on the nest bed. It was common among the Galra to sleep together in a pile, but Keith couldn’t help but feel that he was too old to sleep with his guardian. He tried not to think about it too deep, though — it was kind of a special occasion, and he was tired. So very tired.

When he eventually slept, he dreamed about red fire burning the ground underneath his feet, and yellowish sulphuric clouds hanging overhead. He dreamed about inferno that raged on forever, and yet he found himself unafraid of this dream. It was just a dream, but there was a certain familiarity to it, like he had been there before — which was odd. He was never anywhere near a volcano his whole life, and this place looked like one that he used to watch in nature documentary back on Earth.

There was a song, seemingly calling to him. It was hauntingly beautiful, though Keith couldn’t quite understand the words. It sounded old, ancient even, like something that was long lost and forgotten. Oddly though, he felt familiar to the tune, like an old lullaby he couldn’t quite remember. It calmed his nerves.

When he woke up, he noticed that Antok was already there and his bulk was visible even in the darkness of the room. He and Kolivan were talking softly, so softly that Keith’s translator implant couldn’t quite catch it.

Keith didn’t want to accidentally eavesdrop them talking, so he stretched to let both adults know that he was awake. Just as he thought, Kolivan and Antok stopped talking and turned to him fully.

“Good morning, Keith. How was your sleep?” Kolivan asked.

“I had a weird dream. Probably nothing”, Keith answered. “Sorry, did I interrupt something?”

“Antok and I were discussing about me taking back the leadership”, Kolivan returned.

“Van’i”, Antok warned.

“It’s fine, dearest”, Kolivan turned and nuzzled his head to the crook of Antok’s neck. The act of intimacy made Keith blush, but he tried to ignore it.

“You’re going to be the leader again?” Keith asked.

“Keith, if I’m going to be the leader, I won’t be able to teach you, help you with your studies, or train you”, Kolivan said. “And it would break my commitment to you that I would teach you everything I know.”

“You already taught me a lot”, Keith returned. “And you don’t have to worry about my education. I still have other teachers, like Maestro Belu.”

“Keith, you are my family. It is my duty and responsibility to raise you properly”, Kolivan said. “The Blade of Marmora can afford another leader.  _ You _ can’t afford another teacher.”

“Well…” Keith pouted. Kolivan’s overprotectiveness grated at his nerves sometimes. “What about Antok? He’s your mate, that makes him my family, right?”

“It would be my honor to teach you, Keith”, Antok said.

“See? So you don’t have to worry about me”, Keith added. “I know that Galra grows up slower than Human, but I’m fifteen now, almost sixteen. If I’m back on Earth, I’m almost a fully grown adult.”

“I know that”, Kolivan sighed. “Very well, then. I will take the leadership back. However, I will still monitor your lessons.”

“You don’t have to worry, Van’i. I will teach him  _ everything _ I know”, Antok said with a smirk.

“Somewhat that worries me”, was all Kolivan said.

Antok barked out a laugh, and Keith grinned with him. Already he loved his new family member.

—

Keith stared at his reflection in the mirror, admiring his new uniform — which was similar to Blade agent uniforms, but without the glowing lines on the chest piece. His hair was tied up in a ponytail and his mom’s blade was sheathed on his belt behind his back. It was his first day of training with Antok as one of the Blade new recruits, and he was so excited for it.

He just had his eighteenth birthday a couple days ago, and immediately signed up for Blade training, despite Kolivan’s reluctance. However, Kolivan eventually agreed that they and Antok had nothing left to teach him, save for the Blade training — and, well, the two of them had agreed to teach him  _ everything _ they could.

Even before he became a Blade recruit, he had been helping the Blade of Marmora in any way he could. There were always work at the headquarters and Keith was old enough to be employed as a communication operator along with Regris. On the occasion the headquarters needed a pilot or two to do supply runs, he would be appointed as one. It was a great feeling to be able to contribute to the Blade of Marmora, and now he was one step further into becoming a full fledged Blade agent.

He was about to deactivate the mirror, when he realized something.

Had his skin color always been so… pale? He was pretty pale since begin with, but he swore his skin now had slightly purple tint to it.

Feeling slight panic bubbling in his stomach, he tucked his hair behind his ear and noticed that the tip of his ear was slightly pointy, almost similar to his mom’s ears. And when he examined his eyes, he swore his sclerae were looking more yellow. He searched for more sign of Galra-ness, and only now he noticed the way his body looked.

His shoulders were wider, first of all, and his arms and legs were longer. He hadn’t noticed them before, since he didn’t have the time to properly take a look of himself in the mirror. But now it became clear that he didn’t look like the Human he was back when he left Earth.

Keith didn’t understand this sudden transformation — why was he looking more Galra now? And how? Was it because he hit his growth spurt recently? Because he ate Galra food? Because he lived among the Galra? That couldn’t be it.

He was about to go into a full blown panic, when the door to his room opened and Antok walked in.

“You’re going to be late”, Antok told him.

“I look Galra!” Keith blurted out before he could stop himself.

Antok tilted his head and regarded him critically with his single eye. “Hm”, he hummed. “I can’t see it.”

“I swear I didn’t look like this ten years ago. I mean, look at me! I’m purple!” Keith cried out, feeling distressed.

“Well, ten years ago you would be a toddler”, Antok said unhelpfully, and Keith rolled his eyes.

“I need to see a medic”, he decided.

“Okay.”

And that was how he ended up sitting on the examination table in the sickbay, a Blade doctor looking over his readings. She hummed and hawed at the datapad in her hand, and it made Keith even more anxious than before.

“You do seem to have more Galran gene in your body compared to before”, the doctor said.

“How is that possible?” Keith couldn’t help but ask.

“How long have you been living at the headquarters?” the doctor asked.

“Two years, almost three”, Keith answered. “Why does that matter?”

“Living so close to the twin black holes sometimes makes our bodies react unpredictably, causing genetic mutations and whatnot”, the doctor answered. “The black holes are theorized to be one of the most abundant sources of quintessence. It may trigger some of our recessive genes. Usually, it shows up in genetic diseases. But since you’re a hybrid, it may trigger your recessive Galran gene.”

“Oh”, Keith didn’t know how to answer to that. “Wait, so the longer I live in the headquarter, the more I look Galran?”

“It is possible”, the doctor said. “I will keep an eye on your readings. The mutations won’t happen overnight, so annual exam will suffice.”

“Thank you, doctor”, Keith said, before the doctor released him from the sickbay.

“So you still want to come to the training?” Antok asked as the two of them walked through the hallway.

“Y-yeah”, Keith said shakily. “I mean, I probably should get used with this new body, aren’t I?”

“Keith”, Antok said seriously. “Just because you look more Galran now doesn’t mean that you are different. You are still you, never forget that.”

Keith felt his throat was too tight, but he gave the older Galra a small smile.

Together, the two of them reached the Training Deck, where Keith’s friends were already waiting for him. Regris and Dartok patted his shoulders, while Chahru, Rani, and Nuala were smiling at him. 

The six of them were excited to finally begin their training as the new Blade recruits.

—

When Keith was eighteen, he knew about a lot of things. Like the fact that even in this corner of space, far away from Earth, he had friends and family who would support him no matter what.

Because of them, he was never alone.


End file.
